If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You will have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

Originally Posted by Rhapsh

Okay, let's take a look at the creatures the king has enchanted at this point.
All four powerful alien wizards, this lightning mage, and Miranda herself. Of those six, why did he not use the "free will destroying" brand of enchantment on Miranda?
What purpose does having the Maestro serve to his plans? When was the last time he was in the comic? I only remember the electric guitars.

No emotional connection exists with this character. Beyond Miranda/Mookie saying "O No!" about what is a casual acquaintance at best.

Yeah, did Mookie forget that just what, a month ago? We hear that the king generally refuses to use mind control on humans. Miranda only got a nudge to not work too hard. But then we find out, oh wait, sometimes he does, like when he took out the king and queen. And now, oh wait, he did it to the maestro too. So why not control the one human that actually has a shot of equaling you? The archmage chosen as your replacement? Nah, lets control the one trick wonder that can be beaten by wearing rubber soled shoes.

"Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum"
Translation: "Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe."

Originally Posted by Nerd-o-rama

Traab is yelling everything that I'm thinking already.

"If you don't get those cameras out of my face, I'm gonna go 8.6 on the Richter scale with gastric emissions that'll clear this room."

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

Well, on one hand, I'm glad that Mookie is at least trying to create surprise and tension. On the other hand, as everyone else pointed out, this is full of plot holes.

So Miranda's a supermage going up against another supermage, and she instantly trusts anyone who walks through the door, even though she knows that mind control is her opponent's favorite (only) trick? And why did the King choose the Maestro, of all people, to pull this? He would have had to have known that Miranda would want to contact the Maestro, but he could he know something like that? Why couldn't he have used someone who's a lot closer to the Deegans, like say, Luna? It's not like Miranda's actually doing anything to protect her.

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

Originally Posted by Mr. McGician

Well, on one hand, I'm glad that Mookie is at least trying to create surprise and tension. On the other hand, as everyone else pointed out, this is full of plot holes.

So Miranda's a supermage going up against another supermage, and she instantly trusts anyone who walks through the door, even though she knows that mind control is her opponent's favorite (only) trick? And why did the King choose the Maestro, of all people, to pull this? He would have had to have known that Miranda would want to contact the Maestro, but he could he know something like that? Why couldn't he have used someone who's a lot closer to the Deegans, like say, Luna? It's not like Miranda's actually doing anything to protect her.

Well, first off, we DONT know that he hasnt mind controlled someone close by. Last second sleeper agent attacks are a fairly common trope in this sort of story. But, even if he doesnt do that, there is a good excuse. He doesnt want to take that risk. If any of the people there suddenly start acting even a little different, it could raise suspicions. Combine that with him needing the time and opportunity to cast his mind control, and its a dicey prospect. That being said, literally anyone who has been away from the crowd for more than a minute could be turned into the last second sleeper agent. Luna might be a sleeper, but then again, she is just so great that it would only cause one strip drama as she breaks through out of twu wub.

"Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum"
Translation: "Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe."

Originally Posted by Nerd-o-rama

Traab is yelling everything that I'm thinking already.

"If you don't get those cameras out of my face, I'm gonna go 8.6 on the Richter scale with gastric emissions that'll clear this room."

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

I believe it was me, Mewthario, that pointed out how easy it would have been to just sort of reach on over, tap her face with a wand, and headsplosion instead of playful shock.

Then we find out that the one who so casually reached on over and shocked Miranda has been brainwashed by the King into an assassin.

Despite being given the absolutely PERFECT opportunity to assassinate Miranda right then and there . . . To nip this Anti-King Coalition in the bud with pathetic ease . . . Assassin!Maestro instead decides that he should just come right out and say "Oh, FYI, totally working for the King now, babe. I'm gonna make lightning come out of my eyes and do some dramatic flourishes so you have time to prepare a defense."

I honestly don't think I can take the sheer quantity of bewildering mental retardation being thrown our way anymore. This **** is increasing exponentially.

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

Ah, but he's obviously resisting. That's why he's not killing her when he had the opportunity.

You know, given how much Enchantment gets resisted despite it being used by what's supposed to be one of the most powerful human mages, I think I get why it's so underestimated. If the foremost expert and one of the most skilled and powerful users of enchantment repeatedly fails at it, what hope do the peons do?

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

On first reading I thought it was Maestro saying she'd been enchanted, and I was very confused. What sort of a sick burn is that? Or has the king, through the Maestro managed to enchant her? Was that what the nose-boop was about?

And then I realised Miranda was saying it and it was so dumb. So very, very dumb.

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

I think Mookie only came up with this "twist" today.

Well, first off, we DONT know that he hasnt mind controlled someone close by. Last second sleeper agent attacks are a fairly common trope in this sort of story. But, even if he doesnt do that, there is a good excuse. He doesnt want to take that risk. If any of the people there suddenly start acting even a little different, it could raise suspicions. Combine that with him needing the time and opportunity to cast his mind control, and its a dicey prospect. That being said, literally anyone who has been away from the crowd for more than a minute could be turned into the last second sleeper agent. Luna might be a sleeper, but then again, she is just so great that it would only cause one strip drama as she breaks through out of twu wub.

I'm doubting that Mookie could pull even that off. It would just go from:

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

Anyway, yeah. There's not much to say that hasn't already been said, except that Mookie gains way too much pleasure from derailing his characters.

Also, since we all know that DD has a close relationship with D&D, I think it's obvious that Miranda is a Sorcerer. There's no way in hell she has the INT or WIS high enough to use that as her casting stat. At all.

Gentlefolk, learn from Zaq's example, and his suffering. Remember, seven out of eleven players who use truenamer lose their ability to taste ice cream.

I also wrote a guide to Runepriests (the 4e Truenamer), but WotC's forums got taken down. If you've got 4e Runepriest questions, though, hit me up.Here's something I homebrewed. (It's not Truenamer-related, honest.) PEACH!

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

Originally Posted by Oracle_Hunter

Well, I'm glad DJ Callan still has that moral qualm about Enchanting humans. You can tell it is one of his defining character traits

Yeah really, though too be honest, his original stance of, "I dont like to do it, so I only do it when needed" or however he phrased it, basically implies he just doesnt do it randomly to everyone he meets. Only to those he wants to mind control. /sob

"Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum"
Translation: "Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe."

Originally Posted by Nerd-o-rama

Traab is yelling everything that I'm thinking already.

"If you don't get those cameras out of my face, I'm gonna go 8.6 on the Richter scale with gastric emissions that'll clear this room."

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

Originally Posted by Traab

Yeah really, though too be honest, his original stance of, "I dont like to do it, so I only do it when needed" or however he phrased it, basically implies he just doesnt do it randomly to everyone he meets. Only to those he wants to mind control. /sob

Still doesn't explain why he wouldn't do it to Miranda, who could logically be the largest threat to his plans. It's not even that he tried and she resisted, it's that he didn't even try.

I'm starting to get the impression that the villains aren't any threat whatsoever guys.

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

Well, I'm glad DJ Callan still has that moral qualm about Enchanting humans. You can tell it is one of his defining character traits

All non Deegan characters are sub-human, therefore, DJ has no moral issue about controlling them.

Originally Posted by Traab

Well, first off, we DONT know that he hasnt mind controlled someone close by. Last second sleeper agent attacks are a fairly common trope in this sort of story.

Spark is actually under an enchantment, and in tomorrow's cliffhanger, we'll see cuddly Spark starting to claw the eyes out of Luna.

What? A man can dream!

Originally Posted by Traab

But, even if he doesnt do that, there is a good excuse. He doesnt want to take that risk. If any of the people there suddenly start acting even a little different, it could raise suspicions. Combine that with him needing the time and opportunity to cast his mind control, and its a dicey prospect.

Another question is "why bother?".
The king's final plan is already on it's way.
If he didn't control any of them as a precaution months ago, there is no reason to act now, when he already initiated the last phase of his plan.

This is the one time I can understand if the king ignores the rest of the Deegans, or at least if he sends only mooks delay them.

If he wanted to kill them, don't bother asking about enchantments.
Ask why did he stop the zombies.

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

Still doesn't explain why he wouldn't do it to Miranda, who could logically be the largest threat to his plans. It's not even that he tried and she resisted, it's that he didn't even try.

I'm starting to get the impression that the villains aren't any threat whatsoever guys.

He did put the whammy on her, only in this case it was to get her to not work too hard. In other words, dont bother trying to get strong enough to threaten him. It sorta makes sense, and sorta doesnt. He took control of the other archmages because A) They werent human, and B) They were already powerful threats. Miranda was a newbie mage who he could keep relatively weak without turning her into a puppet, which is something he doesnt like to do to humans if he doesnt have to.

As for the maestro? The way I see it, we have a few options. The ones that would be a good story are, power corrupts. He has taken over a few humans and each time he is willing to do more to them. First he gave miranda a little nudge, then he outright made the old king and queen kill each other, now he is just flat out dominating the maestro. Option 2 is the beast did it. It has powers, it has way less morals, and wouldnt have any issue with mind controlling anything it doesnt get to kill. The last option, which could work, is the maestro ISNT under his control, he willingly joined up.

On the other hand, mookie may have forgotten his own rules, after all, its been longer than a week and he is easily distracted by shiny objects.

"Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum"
Translation: "Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe."

Originally Posted by Nerd-o-rama

Traab is yelling everything that I'm thinking already.

"If you don't get those cameras out of my face, I'm gonna go 8.6 on the Richter scale with gastric emissions that'll clear this room."

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

DJ shouldn't even be having to rely on enchantment to get people to do his work for him anyway, he's the damn KING.

To be fair, it often takes more than an order from the President King for people to assassinate their "friends."

On the other hand, DJ Callan should have just sent his Cattleblasters to arrest all of the Deegans before he started this fiasco. What's the point of having a private army operating under Color of Law if you don't use them to take care of your personal enemies?

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

Gentlefolk, learn from Zaq's example, and his suffering. Remember, seven out of eleven players who use truenamer lose their ability to taste ice cream.

I also wrote a guide to Runepriests (the 4e Truenamer), but WotC's forums got taken down. If you've got 4e Runepriest questions, though, hit me up.Here's something I homebrewed. (It's not Truenamer-related, honest.) PEACH!

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

Oof, the dialogue in this page is so clunky it's like getting hit with a sack of bricks. We already know that David is controlling Maestro, and we also know that mindcontrol rots the control-ee on the inside, so really, Miranda is telling us nothing new, other than the Maestro is for some reason not human now.

And it's a really clumsy retcon, never mind that David already broke his "Will not control fellow humans rule" with the King and Queen. Mookie really wrote himself into a corner with that one.

See, this is why you work out your storylines beforehand and not make it up as you go along per page.

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

Originally Posted by Humbug

Oof, the dialogue in this page is so clunky it's like getting hit with a sack of bricks. We already know that David is controlling Maestro, and we also know that mindcontrol rots the control-ee on the inside, so really, Miranda is telling us nothing new, other than the Maestro is for some reason not human now.

Seriously, this whole update is laid out in pretty much the clumsiest and most inane way possible.

Miranda spelling out more plot details we knew anyway after the already clunky dun-dun-DUN! reveal that yes, the Maestro has indeed been enchanted we got yesterday pretty much ruins it from the start. And of course that fills more than half of the first two panels with dialogue, because hell no we won't have the Maestro's attack actually have any impact by any virtue other than a sad/shaken talking head telling us that this is a dramatic moment right here. I mean, honestly, why show when you can tell and drawing is hard?

But why stop here? Let's give the comic one panel of respite showing the Maestro posing ever so menacingly - and not at all looking silly - and then clumsily address that this goes against pretty much the only characterization the king ever got. Except you of course don't really address it, you just bring it up by having Miranda state it in a way that looks more like she just learned that she didn't win that Evbay auction for that beautiful sofa, not quite like she realizes that she may have to kill another old friend that she's totally been really close to for decades, seriously.

And the explanation that he's somehow not human anymore? Am I the only one who immediately assumed that this means he's all tentacle monster under the hood now, like the Battlecasters? It's really the only way I can think of that would somehow work, at least. Of course, that would make it not at all a valid answer to the question about the king's apparently no longer relevant moral qualms about enchanting humans, but...

...

Moving on!

We get one panel of the Maestro actually attacking Miranda without any dialogue disrupting it, and then Donovan dramatically reenacts Stunt throwing a knife at Mantis mage before putting the strip out of its misery and bidding it farewell with that inspired ironic taunt in the last panel.
Of course, he used a bigger knife, so it may actually work for real if Mookie feels like doing an emotional death scene instead of the Maestro jumping back up revealing his true form (spoiler alert: it's a bit heavy on the tentacles and extra eyeballs) on Monday. I doubt he really knows what it's going to be at this point.

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

Originally Posted by Johnny Blade

And the explanation that he's somehow not human anymore? Am I the only one who immediately assumed that this means he's all tentacle monster under the hood now, like the Battlecasters? It's really the only way I can think of that would somehow work, at least. Of course, that would make it not at all a valid answer to the question about the king's apparently no longer relevant moral qualms about enchanting humans, but...

Re: Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

Originally Posted by Johnny Blade

And the explanation that he's somehow not human anymore? Am I the only one who immediately assumed that this means he's all tentacle monster under the hood now, like the Battlecasters? It's really the only way I can think of that would somehow work, at least. Of course, that would make it not at all a valid answer to the question about the king's apparently no longer relevant moral qualms about enchanting humans, but...

Elemental Changeling, perhaps? Maybe he got so engrossed in lightning magic that he found a way to become one of them, like Jacob the Necromancer looking for a way to become an undead, or something.

This theory doesn't explain 1) why nobody else knew about it before now 2) why it's supposed to be so sinister as a revelation 3) why it's NOT tentacle time, but it DOES continue to paint King DJ as a racist, so in DD:OfH thats probably enough for it to get by.

On the other hand; a magnificently powerful psyker Archmage ascends to ultimate power ands bans mutants, heretics and xenos non-humans from his burgeoning empire... I'm almost kinda hoping that DJ renames himself 'the Emperor' of Callan and going on some sort of crusade. Possibly starting with the Orks on Mars the orcs in Maltak.